(RSF/IFEX) – On 14 June 2002, RSF called on the government of Somaliland, an autonomous region of Somalia, to reverse its 5 June ban on all privately-owned radio stations. The Information Ministry announced that “no other voice” could be heard on the air except that of government-run Radio Hargeysa, and that privately-owned stations would not […]
(RSF/IFEX) – On 14 June 2002, RSF called on the government of Somaliland, an autonomous region of Somalia, to reverse its 5 June ban on all privately-owned radio stations.
The Information Ministry announced that “no other voice” could be heard on the air except that of government-run Radio Hargeysa, and that privately-owned stations would not be permitted, because of “potential dangers.” It warned anyone with transmitting equipment to hand it over to the authorities and warned those who did not do so would be “prosecuted in court.”
“This move is a serious obstacle to press freedom and the growth of independent and diverse expression in the region,” RSF Secretary-General Robert Ménard said in a letter to Somaliland President Dahir Riyale Kahin. “The government has taken this step because it knows most of the region’s inhabitants get their news from the radio,” Ménard added.
The country’s only radio station is the official Radio Hargeysa, but several people and opposition parties have applied for broadcasting frequencies. Several privately-owned newspapers are published and sold in Somaliland’s main towns.
Somaliland declared independence from the rest of Somalia in 1991 but has not been recognised by the international community. RSF recalls that the authorities in Puntland, another autonomous Somali region, shut down the main privately-owned radio and television station in May (see IFEX alert of 24 May 2002).
